Throwing up by the roadside ?

JimmyK

As today was a glorious one , I decided to go out and do a half century . I took a route I havent used before and about 2 miles into the ride there is a hill climb which lasts about 1 mile and its a severe one !! My rear cassette is a shimano 8 speed 13-26 and my front rings are a double. The hill got so steep I had to select inner front ring / and 26 cog at back...........my very lowest gear. I slogged up that road at a puffing 9.5 mph and when I got to the top of the climb , I became very nauseous indeed and had to stop. When I set my bike down I had to bend over and felt like I was going to throw up at any time. I walked around until the nausea subsided and completed the half century in under 3 hours.

Before I left the house, I ensured I had eaten well and taken onboard plenty of carbs and fluid. Ive never had that nausea before and I am curious as to how it happened . Any of you guys know what factors leads to that feeling like you are going to puke whilst you are on your bike ?

Jimmy

fuelex

I've had that a few times on hard climbs, usually when my legs say yes but my lungs say no!
I'll sprint up the last bit feeling quite good and then suddenly have to stop and throw up.
I just put it down to my (lack of) fitness

Smokin Joe

I think the key here is that you came to the climb after only two miles, when niether your lungs nor muscles had warmed up sufficiently. I always avoid a severe undulating section very close to my house when I start my ride for the same reason, I end up gobbing flem, gasping for breath and feeling like I will throw up. If I detour till I've got a few miles in my legs or tackle it on the way home I am fine.

Soni

I've only had that once when i was out on a club ride.

Was on a steep hill which lasted about 10 minutes, i got to the top of the hill and all i could think about was drinking my nice plain water, i was so dehydrated by the climb, but when i got to the top of the hill to stop, there was a pub which smelt like it was cooking onion rings, it really did smell horrible and it made me want to chuck up so badly i was standing accross my cross bar with my head over the handlebars.

I think its just the dehydration that causes it....

Jez mon

It might be something to do with taking the blood which was helping digest food away from the stomach to the legs. It's happened to me before if I've eaten a big meal before training :roll: or if I'm doing hard sprint intervals.

Stumpy Ade

Jez mon wrote:

It might be something to do with taking the blood which was helping digest food away from the stomach to the legs. It's happened to me before if I've eaten a big meal before training :roll: or if I'm doing hard sprint intervals.

Agreed I used to have all sorts of problems like this including one memorable effort resulting in throwing up over my shoulder, halfway into a 40 miler, nice.

Now I never eat less than 3 hours before my ride and even then it's some thing light, so far so good.

bobtbuilder

It's happened to me a couple of times. Both due to a combination of a not leaving long enough after a meal before my ride and a brutal hill before my muscles / CV system had warmed up.

Headhuunter

Stumpy Ade wrote:

Jez mon wrote:

It might be something to do with taking the blood which was helping digest food away from the stomach to the legs. It's happened to me before if I've eaten a big meal before training :roll: or if I'm doing hard sprint intervals.

Agreed I used to have all sorts of problems like this including one memorable effort resulting in throwing up over my shoulder, halfway into a 40 miler, nice.

Now I never eat less than 3 hours before my ride and even then it's some thing light, so far so good.

I agree, if you overeat or eat something fairly heavy which needs a while to digest, your body will divert blood to the stomach to absorb nutrients, however if you push it hard up a hill, blood will be sent to the muscles instead and your body may feel the need to offload the food it is part way through digesting to help get your legs firing on all cylinders

scottlpool2003

I think it's a mixture of a few things. As mentioned above not warmed up properly and it could be other things too such as the high climb (obviously), whatever you've eaten and not enough liquid. It is more common that people think to feel sick after climbing so high.

ollie cb

I almost always feel like I'm going to throw up after I do sprints but I don't think I have ever felt like that after climbing. Perhaps I'm not trying hard enough? But as has previously been suggested, it is probably because you weren't fully warmed up.

Dunkeldog

Happened to me a couple of times - at the top of a long, dragging hill - just popped off the bike, a bit of a cough and splutter, then relaxed on the descent. Just put it down to one of those days.

graemematheson

Happened to me a couple of times as well, for those who know Cental Scotland, it was top of the Tak me doon both times.

I spewed a little bit as i enjoyed the down hill and bit back the rest. Why stop to offload weight?

Gazzaputt

Also fitness is a factor. You are over doing it and this is one of the body's reactions to not being able to cope so out comes food from the stomach.

I bet after some more miles under the belt you'll be fine getting up the hill.

Stewie Griffin

ollie cb wrote:

I almost always feel like I'm going to throw up after I do sprints but I don't think I have ever felt like that after climbing. Perhaps I'm not trying hard enough? But as has previously been suggested, it is probably because you weren't fully warmed up.

+1 for almost puking after a "long" sprint, but I put this down to my lack of fitness :oops:

Horton

It happens to the pros too, so I don't think fitness is the only factor - I was at the finish line of last year's TDF and David Millar was burying himself trying to drag Julian Dean to the front with Vande Velde for a sprint finish. When he eventually crossed the line he had to have a little spit. I think it's likely that as your heart rate increases to its absolute maximum, it's your bodies way of saying stop. Once it drops a little bit, you tend to feel fine... Where fitness comes in is that it helps it take longer to get to your max HR and you also recover much quicker after a big effort like a sprint/steep hill.